Clinical predictors of nephritis in systemic lupus erythematosus.

We identified clinical predictors of lupus nephritis presenting more than 6 months after the diagnosis of lupus in a cohort of 335 lupus patients. Almost 24% (80/335) of patients developed nephritis more than 6 months after the diagnosis of lupus. Using a Cox proportional hazards model, we found hypertension, thrombocytopaenia and leukopaenia to be associated with lupus nephritis presenting more than 6 months after diagnosis, with adjusted relative risks of 2.5 (95% CI 1.3 to 4.7), 4.3 (95% CI 1.7 to 10.8) and 3.2 (95% CI 1.7 to 6.2) respectively. In this cohort, hypertension, thrombocytopaenia and leukopaenia were associated with lupus nephritis presenting more than 6 months after the diagnosis of lupus.